Reader Feedback:I love to sit near you uptight non-smokers in restaurants that still
allow smoking -- and I am one to pick my restaurants by that policy.
When second-hand smoke studies start working from evidence to
conclusions and not the other way around, I'll get some compassion.
For now, I'll be blowing smoke rings over your table. I, you see, can
sit back and self-righteously puff away on a tiny cigarette. I don't
own a car. How many of you anti-tobacco-crazed zealots are as kind to
the environment?

John McCalla
Philadelphia, PA

**Next Post

I have been following with great interest the debate raging in your newsletter over the issue of smoking in restaurants.

We are equally worried in Great Britain about the problem, and also
about the threat of Government legislation.

Smoking in restaurants or bars is a social pursuit with antisocial
consequences for non-smokers and for staff. However, if it is banned
completely trade will suffer as it would appear to be a myth that
smokers will simply refrain and continue to eat out. They have other
options which they will pursue, and restaurants and bars will lose
out.

I am the spokesman for the Restaurateurs Association of Great Britain
on smoking related issues, and we are concerned to see that a
Voluntary Code of Conduct is adopted here. This should improve
conditions for customers and staff, whilst hopefully achieving the
aims of the Government - without the inevitable complications that
legislation would introduce.

We also believe strongly in freedom of choice, and it has been shown
elsewhere that you can bring in all the laws that you like, but they
are either ignored - as in France - or they are strictly applied, in
which case the customer votes with his feet and just goes somewhere
else where he can smoke.

However, we believe that it is vital for a restaurant to adopt one of
two options:

1. They should install an effective ventilation or air conditioning
system - as we have at my restaurant Porters - with sufficient air
movements per hour, so that smoking does not cause a problem.

I happen to be a reformed smoker of twenty years standing, and
therefore loath cigarette smoke, particularly when I am eating. But in
my own place I can happily sit next door to a smoker without any
difficulty.

2. Or they simply set aside an area for non-smokers, which must be of
sufficient size and far enough from smokers that it actually works.
Failing that then they should consider the possibility of going
completely non-smoking.

We are certain that a voluntary code would actually work better for
all parties. The last thing that we need is legislation, and we
believe that the British Government is now coming round to this view.

I have been in every part of our beloved industry for now over 12
years, started at 15 years old. Much to the unhappiness of my parents,
that's exactly when I started smoking. Have you noticed, that is is
all right, when an employee, might it be a server or bartender or
cook, goes to his supervisor and says "I need a smoke-break", but that
is simply unheard of to hear somebody ask for a "clean-air-break".
That was the reason for me to start this habit. I have been a
waitress, that has never been bothered by smoke. I have recently
started working as a bartender in a local hotel, the only place I have
ever been employed at where the bartender cant smoke with the
customers. Most guests around here were surprised, when I had to say,
sorry, no thank you, I will have to go outside for that. I worked with
both smoking and non smoking servers, nobody ever voiced a concern
about this. Granted, the only place to smoke in our facility is our
Sports bar, down the hall and way out of the way of restaurant and
Lobby. Still, I would estimate a good 80% of all people that I had the
pleasure to work with in this industry smokes.

Now, that I have been promoted to Director of Sales & Catering, I run
into the problem all the time. Not for non smokers being bothered by
smokers, but by guests that want to smoke and have to leave the
building. A Quote: "I spent thousands of dollars for this meeting, I
want my guests to be able to smoke if they want to." And this attitude
I hear more often than not! Do you see any way of dealing with this
the right way? Frankly, I don't mind either way, I don't smoke in non
smoking friends houses or cars. But how do fix the dilemma, when all
you want to do is "pleasing the customer".

And on a minor note, it should not be the government to decide this,
it should be a choice of the individual, just like everything else in
life. If I choose to smoke in a restaurant, then you can choose not to
sit next to me, or choose to not frequent a smoking establishment. But
please quit treating me as a lower form of being, that has to be told
what to do. Of course we are educated about smoking risks, but we
CHOOSE to do it. Why? Well, that's my choice!

Sincerely,
Heike

**Next Post

My name is Chris Davidson, and I recently opened a two storey, 140
person capacity bar and grill called...don't laugh...Desperate Dick's
& Durty Nellie's Bar & Grill...subtitled in our sign on top of the
restaurant reads..."Originally the home of warm beer and poor food"

Our main floor is expansive with the second floor being a mezzanine
which overlooks the bottom area. We have two full service bars and a
licensed deck for 30 persons, which overlooks Pelican Lake.

I guess the main reason I wrote this was to state the fact that we are
a NON-SMOKING RESTAURANT AND BAR. This response to us developing this
has been weighed to the positive. The interior decor, designer tiles,
and carpet, let alone the smell, will be preserved almost indefinitely
with our NO-SMOKING POLICY.

In brief...C'mon..Smoker or not...who likes dining or even drinking in
an atmosphere which is thick with lethargic fumes?

Yours in Canada,
Chris Davidson

**Next Post

My husband and I moved to Houston a couple of years ago after
finishing graduate school at the University of Texas in Austin. While
in Austin, the city enacted a smoking ban in all restaurants. The
result was wonderful, smoke free dining everywhere---from the most
posh French restaurant to the ever-popular 24-hour pancake house. We
were in dining heaven--no stinky smoke to annoy us, no ashtrays giving
off that offense, trashy smell, and no more waiting longer for a
"non-smoking" seat. When we moved to Houston, it was a complete
shock---Houston has no smoking ban in restaurants. Smoke would drift
over to the so-called "non-smoking" side. Some Friday nights, we would
come home smelling as if we had been out to a nightclub. What a pity
since we did visit some rather good restaurants. Well, we have since
moved back to Austin, and enjoy going out to eat once again--smoke
free.